992 GT3 RS vs 996 Carrera: Does the Newer Car Justify the Massive Price Difference?
On a track, the 996 Carrera has no chance against a 992 GT3 RS, but when it comes to everyday driving the two are closer than you think.
Congratulations! You were just given a check for $320,000. But there is a catch. You only have two options for spending that money. Option number one is to spend it all to get a 992 GT3 RS. Option number two is to spend $32,000 on a nicely modified 996 Carrera and spend the remaining $288,000 on anything you want. What do you do? Well, finding a nice 996 Carrera is certainly a lot easier than finding a dealer with a spare GT3 RS allocation laying around. But for the sake of the argument assume both vehicles are readily available to you. The GT3 RS is obviously going to be much faster than the 996. It will also have more advanced technology, a full warranty, and so on. But is it really worth ten times the price of a 996?
Mat Watson recently made a video on this very topic and posted it to his YouTube channel. He owns a modified 1998 996 and he recently acquired a 992 GT3 RS with the Weissach Package. The list price of his GT3 RS was ten times what he feels his 996 is worth. He talks about the details of each car and then takes them both for a quick spin in the city center as well as on country roads. Can the newer car possibly justify the massive price delta? Can the older car possibly hold a candle to the most track-focused road-legal 911 Porsche ever produced? The answer is yes to both.
Absurd Comparison
The concept of comparing these cars is a bit silly. No one in the world right now is cross-shopping a 996 Carrera with a 992 GT3 RS. But looking closely at both of them does illustrate how closely they are related, yet how different they are. First, the new car looks absolutely massive compared to the older car. That would be true of a standard 992 compared to a 996. But the giant wing and flared fenders stuffed with massive tires just amplify the effect. The new car is also almost completely devoid of any practicality. Not only is the frunk gone, which thereby removes your luggage space. But even the glove box is not available because it is stuffed with the wheel lock key and other bits that normally would be housed in the frunk.
At the same time, on a drag strip, on a back road, on a road course, or anywhere else, the 996 would have no chance in the world of keeping up with the GT3 RS. Pitting these two against each other in a contest of speed would be no contest at all. And when it comes to the wow factor, the new car wins there as well. Nobody is going to give a 996 a second look. However, drive a GT3 RS down the street and people will be jumping out of windows to get a closer look at it.
996 Road Test
Watson has made quite a few modifications to his 996. This includes lowering the car, a short shift kit, a modified exhaust, and more. None of these really close the performance gap between the two cars, but it does make the 996 feel quite a bit sportier. The downside is it is also a bit harsher over rough roads. But his car sounds great, visibility is good, it is quick enough on public roads for any reasonable person, and it is way more practical.
GT3 RS Road Test
Amazingly Watson thinks the hardcore track weapon actually handles the bumps in the road better than the 996. And it is actually fine for crawling around town. But when he gets to some open road, he gives the car the beans and it makes him giggle in a way that the 996 can’t. The new car is just a fantastic drive. Watson sums up the video by saying that if he had ten opportunities to go for a drive he would take the GT3 RS every time. It is hard to argue against that. But at the same time for a fraction of the price the 996 is one heck of a good sports car.
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